Extending WiFi range

[Gyn_Paul]

I have a Freebox v4 with a WiFi card which I need to retain (otherwise

I can't use Free's 'piggyback' VoiP phone service). But find that its

range doesn't extend from the ground floor to the attic.

If the signal won't get through 2 x 1" of floorboard and 1/2" of

plaster, then it hasn't a hope of getting through stone walls once we

extend sideways.

Can anyone recommend any kit to fix this problem?

Can one 'daisy-chain' routers ?

p

Oh yes... and can you use more than one internet radio at a time?

[Bugsy]

Get it as high as possible was the advice given to us and my Belkin unit works through two 'metre-thick' walls.

[Gyn_Paul]

I can't see why up-to-down should work any better than down-to-up but

I'll give it a go when I can, but at the moment both the main phone

socket and the PC are on the ground floor in the middle of the house,

and I'm stuck with it for now.

p

[Bugsy]

My unit is also in a downstairs room but on a shelf at ceiling height. I could not get a signal on the outside patio when the unit was on the PC desk but get a full signal now. I am, like you, no expert in this stuff, just passing on what works for me.

Only trying to help..........................................

[Gyn_Paul]

Well the Free box is sitting on top of the PC at the moment, but with a

bit of jiggery pokery I should be able to get the yellow 1394 cable to

reach to the ceiling and if I can untangle the mains unit, it might get

near enough to join it. Then we'll see if my internet radio will

work  upstairs upstairs.

p

[AnOther]

[quote user="Gyn_Paul"]...the yellow 1394 cable...[/quote]Err, pardon moi but what has 1394, AKA Firewire, got to do with a Livebox and a wireless network...[8-)]

[aj_dr]

Unless the previous posts have been edited in the interim, the freebox being used by Gyn_Paul does have a firewire (ieee-1394) port, though not having the tv service I've never looked into whether it is there purely for extended storage, or whether it supports network emulation or media service output.

[quote user="Gyn_Paul"]a WiFi card which I need to retain (otherwise

I can't use Free's 'piggyback' VoiP phone service).[/quote]

The freebox can either direct  voip calls to its internal phone connector or leave them to pass over the internal network to an off-board SIP system such as an asterisk (or should that be asterix) server. The wifi card should not be required for the operation of any function, aside from the inbuilt wireless networking of course. If you have a network switch then run a cable to the middle floor and put a plain access point on it and run as many workstations as are accessible via cable connections too. This will give much better coverage than trying to stretch the signal to upstairs. (this is what we do.. though it is easier as we don't use the wifi support in the freebox.) Another trick, if the features are available, is to maximise the radio power on the devices and disable power management options on the client devices (buried deep in the driver software options in the system control panel..best left for another time really).

[quote]If the signal won't get through 2 x 1" of floorboard and 1/2" of

plaster, then it hasn't a hope of getting through stone walls once we

extend sideways.[/quote]

water (and hence wood) tends to eat wifi and DECT-phone signals more than stone. We have a phone that can get from one end of the house to the other through a variety of huge stone wall and several studwalls, but will lose enough signal to get audio drop-outs and disconnections when standing directly below the base-station one floor down under an inch of floorboard.

[quote]Can one 'daisy-chain' routers ?[/quote]

If you mean 'residential gateway' type devices then yes, but I wouldn't wish it on anyone, espcially involving wireless, unless the 'slave' router can be configured in 'access point' mode.

[quote]Oh yes... and can you use more than one internet radio at a time?[/quote]

certainly, but make sure that the channels for each base unit are set so as not to clash, if possible put 2 or 3 channels of seperation for base-station devices that are physically near to eachother. Assigning independent ssid-names will stop any confusion when client devices attempt to connect. Things like tv senders also run in the same waveband as wifi signals (anything specified for 2.4ghz has a chance of getting in the way, especially when the signal strength is low). If you mean more than one client device connected to one base station, then this is already built in and taken care of automagically.

ttfn, and hope you're not more confused than ever. AR ( not aj or dr :) )

standard disclaimers apply (works for me/ hope this helps..etc)

[Owens88]

It is possible to extend, though with an AP not a router.

 

Bonne Courage

 

John

[AnOther]

[quote user="aj_dr"]...the freebox being used by Gyn_Paul does have a firewire (ieee-1394) port, though not having the tv service I've never looked into whether it is there purely for extended storage, or whether it supports network emulation or media service output.[/quote]We live and learn then GP so thanks for expanding my knowledge [;-)]

Fortunately my ISP supplied me with something other than the dreaded Livebox so I've never had the "pleasure" of hands on experience with one [:D]

[derf]

I think they are talking Freebox and not Livebox[:)]

[Gyn_Paul]

Wow!  Proof, if

proof at all were needed, of the mess you get into if you don't punctuate

properly !

First of all it's a FREEbox not a Livebox.

Secondly, <<I have a Freebox v4

with a WiFi card which I need to retain (otherwise I can't use Free's

'piggyback' VoiP phone service) >>

 

Was a classic dangling

modifier, and should have read, <<I

have a Freebox v4 which I need to retain otherwise I can't use Free's

'piggyback' VoiP phone service.(which plugs directly into the box). It also has

a Wifi card which I use to feed an internet radio>>

 

Thirdly I clicked on

the wrong icon at the bottom of the screen in order to see how the box was

attached to the PC so what I was referring to was my yellow ethernet cable (same

double icon; 4mms further along!) rather than what my PC calls a 1394

connection.

 

For info, the back of

my box has (In no particular order) ADSL IN, Ethernet, USB (big square

type),

USB (big flat type), RJ phone out, SCART, SPDIF,

very-flat-and-thin-7-way-connector-like-you-connect-a-SATA-hard-drive-with-but-just-labelled-‘ext’,

and the 12v in.

 

Eventually we hope to

have the box and the main PC up in the attic (USB connection), a laptop or 2^nd

PC down in the kitchen (ethernet connection?), some sort of wireless feed to

the hi-fi in the salon, and an internet radio or 2 generally around the place.

My ideal would be sunning

myself out on the terrace, with a drink in one hand, listening to a bit of

Classic FM, or something ‘on demand’ from Radio 4, hence the need for decent

WiFi coverage for the internet radio.

This is, of course,

entirely mythical in that there will never actually come a time when I can sit sunning

myself etc. without seeing a dozen jobs which need to be done before I can sit

down. However it's good to dream, apparently.

A lifetime’s Protestant

work-ethic, I find, can be every bit as effective as the standard-issue Catholic

guilt-trip!

 

[Gyn_Paul]

Thank you AR, yes I am; but hope that, with repeated reading of your

long and detailed posting, it will all become clearer. I also have a

young friend who is an absolute wizz coming for lunch next week and he

can probably shed light on the darker corners (he wears his knowledge

lightly but still manages to make me feel that I am about 102 with

English as my 3rd language).

p

[ChezShells]

Get another wireless router (Netgear) get the freebox and new the new router communicating (not straight forward), buy a new antenna for the netgear box to extend its range.
I purchased an external antenna which it claims has a 5km range, works fine though where I need it (100m)

[Breton Networks]

[quote user="Gyn_Paul"]ICan anyone recommend any kit to fix this problem?[/quote]

The easiest & quickest way is with a 'HomePlug' device, something like http://www.netgear.com/Products/PowerlineNetworking.aspx?for=Home+Networking providing you only have a single phase mains supply.